It is during this week that I would like to take a moment to shine the spotlight on Stevens County's child care providers. As caregivers of our community's most precious citizens, your work is very much appreciated and greatly needed by many parents in our communities. You play a huge role in our children's lives for many years. As stated by an unknown source, “A child who spends nine to 10 hours a day, five days a week and 48-50 weeks a year in child care will by school entry have spent almost as many hours in care as they will spend in all of elementary and high school combined.” That's equivalent to over 12,000 hours of care for just one child.

In Stevens County we have 35 providers who each care for an average of 10 children. That's roughly 350 children on a daily basis. Not only do these providers give their love and time to caring for the next generation, they make sure each child is safe, fed, rested, taught and entertained every day.

Whether or not you have ever had children in day care, I ask you to join with me in giving our Stevens County family child care providers your support and appreciation for all they do in helping to raise the young children in our communities. Their work is appreciated far more than they may know.

If you have need of child care services, a list of licensed providers is on the Stevens County Human Services section of the Stevens County website.